


Assumptions

by RubyCider



Category: Ghost Hunt
Genre: (slight) Aged-up characters, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family Fluff, Gentle Romance, Gentler Naru because the story asked for it, If you've only seen the anime good luck, Luella plays guessing games, Mai is not ready, Naru is an oppurtunist as always, Naru tries to pull a sneak, Other, Post-Canon, Spoilers for main series, Spoilers for manga and novels, TW Luella's mind, and Martin is just a nerd, he is one sly dog, meet the parents, seriously this woman jumps to conclusions like she was Mario
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:47:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24593263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyCider/pseuds/RubyCider
Summary: Oliver makes a rare visit to his parents with an SPR colleague in tow, under the pretenses of training and research. While excited to see her son again, Luella quickly becomes curious towards Oliver's true intentions; it's not everyday he willingly participates in social interactions...let alone insists that a work colleague join in.
Relationships: Luella Davis/Martin Davis, Shibuya Kazuya/Taniyama Mai
Comments: 16
Kudos: 106





	1. Hint 1

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posted from FF.net
> 
> Originally posted Jan/2/2019
> 
> Finished Jan/1/2020

Professor Martin Davis began his day like normal. He woke up at 6:59 AM (a minute before his alarm was set), put on his plush robe, and slipped on his grey house shoes. He went into the kitchen to give his wife, Luella, a morning kiss. He traveled outside to retrieve the weekly paper. He prepared tea, while she cooked breakfast. The couple would mostly eat in companionable silence with only the crisp shuffle of the newspaper. Occasionally they would discuss a stray client of Luella’s or the BSPR’s latest something or the other.

However, this time the quiet was pierced with ringing from the Davis’ landline. Assuming it was a colleague from the BSPR, Martin excused himself to answer it. 

“Morning,”

Upon hearing his son’s voice, Martin threw out any notion of the day being regular; his smile would make a return throughout the day.

“Good morning, Noll. It’s nice to hear from you.”

Luella nearly knocked the dining room table over in her haste to charge at the phone. Martin handed the phone to her demanding hands.

“You haven’t called us in weeks!” She accused.

“Good morning, Luella,” Oliver said. 

“Well, good morning to you, too! What has the doctor been up to?” 

Martin could practically see Oliver embarrassedly looking away, and laughed. 

“...That’s why I called. I have been planning a return visit--”

“Oh, Martin did you hear that!?” Luella narrowly missed headbutting her husband in her excitement when she turned around. 

“Yes, I heard, dear,” Martin said.

“When do you plan on arriving?” She quickly began the interrogation.

“I’ll give you all the details if you let me finish, Luella.” 

Oliver’s tone betrayed his growing irritation. There was work to be done and he hadn’t schedule in a call to his parents. 

Without missing a beat, Luella quipped back, “I’ll let you finish if you keep your manners in mind.” 

A quiet but audible sigh filtered through the phone’s speaker.

“I want to introduce you and Martin to a colleague from Japan’s SPR. Naturally, they would need a place to stay during the visit--”

“--Oh, Noll! That’s a lovely idea! It would be grand to have the two of you here--”

“What’s the reason?” Martin’s blunt question earned him a glare from his wife. Or it could be because the two men simply couldn't keep up with her enthusiasm. 

“They have a wide-range of abilities that I want BSPR insight on, but they're also useful with equipment.”

“Oliver, you don't plan on bringing your friend across the ocean with the intent of having them be a guinea pig, do you?” Luella asked horrified.

“...No, but I acknowledge that further research into their abilities is impossible with the limited funding here.” 

“You never answered Luella about when you'll be arriving,” Martin reminded Oliver. 

“Two days from now.”

Enough time for a notice, but soon enough to not keep Luella in constant suspense.

The call ended after Martin and Luella managed to weasel out some more basic information about their surprise guest; such as preferred meals, position at SPR, and age. 

It was only when each party was preparing to hang up that Martin asked, “What did you say your colleague's name was again?”

A beat passed and Oliver responded with a reluctant, “Mai Taniyama.”


	2. Hints 2 and 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luella has heart palpitations over her son interacting with a member of the female sex. Mai tries to speak English, but L's are still tricky. Martin spends the day at work, and Oliver just wants to sleep.

_“He-Herro, Doctor Davis. I'm Mai Taniyama...It's very nice to meet you!”_

Since adopting her twins, Luella's life had been brimming with surprises. Eugene turned out to be a perfect medium and Oliver became the most powerful modern PK user. Who knew? 

Not to mention the two's chatting* (and all the trouble it alluded to). Oh, did she mention how hard raising two adolescent boys was in of itself? She had quickly found out that the pros greatly outweighed the cons. What shocked her the most was that she still found herself being surprised by her sons, even after Eugene's...departure. Oliver _willingly_ inviting a colleague from Japan over to the Davis home? Maybe Lin was a possibility--but someone new? She was still overcoming her shell-shock when she answered the front door around 8 PM two days after Oliver's call. The last thing she expected to see was her Noll next to a young, flustered _lady._

Mai...was a _woman's_ name? _Mai was a woman_? Much to her embarrassment, Luella stood with the door open for quite a while. Her eyes owlish, but she managed to hold onto some manners (thank the stars), and kept her jaw from flinging open.

Oliver cleared his throat and said, “Evening, Luella. Do you plan on letting us in?”

Her eyes snapped into focus on her son's face. His _smirking_ face with his mischievous eyes… The message was clear: he planned on this. 

Luella grinned broadly. “Of course, Oliver and…” she looked at the nervous bundle to the right of him, “Ms Taniyama.”

She opened the door for the pair, Oliver leading the way inside. 

“Oh no, Doctor...just Mai. Pwease!” Her voice squeaked the final syllable like she had forgotten the word.

Luella’s smile turned warmer. “Only if you call me Luella, luv.” 

Mai's face turned outright scarlet and Luella feared she would burst into flames. 

“I...I don't think I could say it properry.” She murmured. 

Of course! She must be more comfortable with Japanese! Luella quickly reprimanded herself for allowing the shock of Mai's gender and age to derail her manners so much. 

“ _We can discuss in Japanese if you prefer? My husband won't arrive until later.”_ Luella's Japanese was a bit rusty, but she didn't doubt her capability for small talk. 

Oliver sighed as he collected half of the pair's luggage. 

“If you speak in Japanese, her English will never improve,” he said sternly. 

Mai smiled shyly, “I was going to say the same. One reason I'm here is to work on Engr...Eng-lish,” She bowed, “but, thank you...Lu-ell-a.”

Shortly afterwards, Luella showed Mai to the guest room she would use for the next two weeks. Luella was surprised, yet again, as Oliver followed them on the mini-tour...as if he expected something to go wrong. Luella couldn't put her finger on what _could_ have went badly, but mother's intuition could tell his body was too stiff, his eyes too focused for someone so jetlagged. 

Predictably, the two travelers held no inclinations of leaving their beds once settled. Which left Luella's mind to wander and imagine (something her boys had learned to fear most). By the time Martin had returned from his classes**, Luella was bursting with delusions both plausible and far-fetched.

But, “Mai is a _woman's_ name,” had been what bursted out of her mouth when her husband walked into the front hall. 

“Is that so?”

He didn’t sound half as interested or suspicious as he should have been. 

“Martin...Mai. Is. A. Woman.”

Martin raised an eyebrow. “There are female psychics, dear. You've met some.” 

Luella gave a sharp sigh. “But, don't you think it strange that Noll didn't mention that?!”

“I would have been surprised if he _had_.”

That put her on pause enough for Martin to continue. 

“I fear you've been left alone too long to fantasize,” he smiled soothingly.

Of course. She had let her hopes and fears take the best of her. But she still couldn't shake the feeling…

“But, say he _was_ seeing someone Martin… he would tell us, right?” 

He gave a gentle laugh. “I think that boy is too clever for his own good,” he teased.

That didn't make Luella feel any better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Luella calls the twin’s telepathy “chatting”
> 
> **Martin is a professor at Queen's College 
> 
> SO I get ready to post the 3rd chapter and that's when I realized... I never posted the 2nd one. WOW, I can't handle publishing even a completed story OTL


	3. ~Interlude~

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mai experiences a rare bout of anxiety regarding the future, and Oliver can't understand why she bothers to get herself worked up.

“...Naru I don't know why I thought I could do this,” Mai whispered. “I can't even pronounce your mom's name correctly!”

Her hands were starting to ache from their constant wringing. Was _that_ what she was doing to them? She didn't remember ever doing that. After watching Mai torture her hands for a more few seconds, Oliver grabbed them into his own. He sat on the bed so he was next to her. Mai tried to get comfortable; but no matter how she adjusted herself on the memory foam mattress, how much she fluffed the downy pillows, or if the blanket was cocooned around her or on the floor, she couldn't get her body to relax. It took everything she had to not start pacing. 

Luckily, Oliver was here to...to… well, she didn’t know what he could do. But his presence was enough to help, even if it was only a little bit. But his presence also reminded her what was at stake. 

“If your parents end up hating me…”

Oliver shrugged. “Their opinions have no impact on mine.”

Here they go again. 

“...But they're your _parents_!”

Oliver raised a perfect eyebrow. “Are you so stupid that your feelings about me are dependent on others’?”

Mai huffed, ripped her hands out of Oliver's, and crossed her arms. 

“No! But if we want a future together…” Her voice grew quieter as her face turned redder.

Despite the strength of the relationship Mai and Naru had built, thinking about their futures as intertwined made Mai giddy and flushed with embarrassment-- as if she was a schoolgirl crushing over the mysterious new upperclassman. Voicing the thoughts amped up her emotions to an 11; the future wasn't something Mai or Naru ever spent too much thought into, one of their more _practical_ shared traits. Oliver was the type to leap and plan on the way down, Mai would rely on her instincts or pluckiness, or trust the river of fate to drift her to solid ground.There was always more work to be completed and research to polish according to Oliver, fretting about what was to come was just a distraction. Mai was, much simply, too optimistic to be anywhere but the present (most of the time). 

“I think it's wonderful you were given this second chance at life and they both seem so wonderful…I'd like them to...be a part of the family," Mai was speaking so softly that Oliver was unsure if he had heard the last bit correctly. 

He lightly tapped her forehead. 

“Don't wear yourself out, dummy. I didn't tell anything about our relationship to them,” despite his harsh words, Oliver's voice was soft.

Mai's eyebrows knitted together and her lips slightly parted. Apparently, she had already overworked her brain via her anxiety. 

“You had me worrying...for _nothing?”_ Her arms were quickly uncrossed.

“I knew you would be worried, so I told them that you are here for testing on your latent abilities.”

Mai threw her hands in the air. “Then _how_ am I supposed to get to know them?!”

Oliver pinched the bridge of his nose. He was trying his best to be patient, he really was.

“We are spending _two weeks_ here. Excluding any meals we all four share, that is more than enough time for you to socialize. If you had put any thought towards what I said, you would have realized this.”

Mai's arms were recrossed and her mouth formed a pout. 

“I still think it was a bad idea to lie to them,” she huffed.

“Now the only thing you have to prove is that your skills are worth the hassle.”

“Hey! I’m a lot more capable than you think I am!” Mai’s blush returned. 

“Is that so…” His mouth quirked upwards.

“....N-now you're just teasing me…”

He brushed her messy bangs out of her face, “So, you've figured it out.”

And just like that she realized Naru had, yet again, reassured her. Not that she'd give him the satisfaction of knowing… so she changed the subject. 

“Hmm, maybe I should tell your parents about your treatment of the rest of SPR? That'll teach you to mock my poor, fragile hear--” Mai was cut off by a pillow gently hitting her face.

The unexpected impact sent her falling backwards with a loud “Oof!”

“Go to sleep, Mai,” Oliver admonished lightly.

Ah, too late. He already knew and was satisfied with himself. That’s what she got for using The Master’s own tricks against him. Still...

“Hey~, was that a laugh I heard?” 

Oliver added another pillow onto the stack piling up on Mai's face and stood from the bed. At the loss of pressure Mai sat up, the pillows fwumped to the ground. 

She asked, “Wait, you're leaving?” 

Hand already on the doorknob, Oliver turned to face Mai. 

“You expect me to stay here?”

“N-no!” Okay, so maybe she _had_ expected him to stay...

“I doubt that would make a good first impression,” Oliver smirked.

“...Damn narcissist.”

“To think at your age you still don't know what that word means,” He moved to his earlier position on Mai's bed.

“And to think you're still so uncute!” 

As odd as the compliment was, it earned her a warm goodnight kiss from Oliver. The action, fueled by Oliver's insistence to not worry, made determination rush through Mai's veins. She'd be damned if she let anyone stand in the way of… whatever she and Oliver had. Even if Luella and Martin found her to be a total disgrace, she would go down fighting.

“Satisfied for now?” Oliver asked after breaking the kiss.

“Gaaah, you're terrible~,” Mai cried and tried to push him off the bed with her feet. “Leave me alone!”

Oliver sighed. “I have been trying.”

He stood up from the bed, flicked Mai's forehead (which she complimented with an exaggerated cry), and left her room. As he walked down the large hallway to his own bedroom, Oliver attempted to rationalize Mai's fear of Martin and Luella. Once he sat in his bed he realized what a lost cause that was. He fell asleep peacefully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Added 1 or 2 sentences for clarification purposes, which weren't in the FF.net version


	4. Luella Suspects

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which London is for the girls, the scheme officially starts, Martin melts, Luella goes bankrupt, and Naru makes prolonged eye contact!

Martin decided it was best for his two travel-weary guests to sleep in as long as they needed to. That, of course, didn’t sit well with Luella. Her  _ not-pacing _ was making it hard to focus on grading papers, let alone breakfast. When Martin was finally able to convince her to sit down, her small feet quietly tapped to a gentle but frantic song. She was as tense as a compressed spring.  Oliver was the first to awake, a little after noon. When he was within distance, Luella rushed over and hugged him. He didn't recoil. Instead he lightly hooked his right arm around her. 

Luella released him with little tears budding in her eyes.

“We have missed you so much, Noll,” she said. 

Oliver nodded. Martin made his way over to the pair, also misty-eyed but still smiling. He too hugged his son, while he received the earlier one-armed embrace in return. 

“What are we doing all standing around for? Come on Noll, dear. Sit, sit _! _ ” Luella ushered her family to the couch. 

“I'll go prepare tea.”

Luella quickly excused herself to the kitchen. Each movement seemed to wind her tighter. 

Martin smiled at his son.

“Do pardon her nerves,” He whispered, so Luella wouldn't overhear. 

Oliver smirked. 

“Do the same for Mai,” Oliver replied. 

Martin laughed gently. 

Sleepy footsteps were heard from the stairs. Just as Luella walked in with the tea tray, Mai appeared in the living room rubbing her left eye. 

“Ah~ good-morning-everyone,” she managed, her words very jumbled.

“It's  _ noon,  _ or have you forgotten how to tell time?” Oliver greeted.

Luella quickly chided him, “ _ Oliver.”  _

Mai started to laugh softly, but it quickly morphed into a yawn, too tired to even think about attempting a comeback.

“Mai, luv, how do you like your tea?” Luella placed the tray onto the coffee table. 

“D-do you have green tea?” She asked.

Luella's face brightened, “Coming right up!”

She sprung towards the kitchen. Martin walked towards Mai, hand extended. 

“I'm Martin Davis. My deepest apologies for not being here last night, I was held up in a staff meeting. It's nice to meet you.”

Mai caught herself mid-bow, then corrected herself, snapping her spine straight and spastically shaking Martin's hand.

“I'm Tani-” she shook her head, her messy hair flying left and right.  “ _ Mai Taniyama _ . It is nice to meet you, too.”

Luella gracefully lunged into the drawing room, handing Mai her tea.

“Have you been able to settle in nicely?” She asked.

Mai inhaled her tea, then after a short pause gave a timid smile.

“Ah, yes. I did not bring too much with me.”

“Luella, this is Mai's first time out of Japan,” Oliver said.

Mai frowned and cocked her head. She nearly spilled her tea when she flinched from Luella's sharp clap.

“Oh, we should take her out through the countryside!” She turned to Mai excitedly. 

“Or are you more of a shopping and sightseeing type?”

Mai gently waved her free hand, “You really do not need to go out of your way--”

“Nonsense! You're hardly forcing my hand. How about the shopping district tonight, so you can give your legs a nice stretch? Depending on how much we can get done today, we can plan the rest of your stay with activities. I doubt you want to play guinea pig your whole stay here.”

Mai opened her mouth to reply, but Oliver beat her to it: “While you two are out, Martin and I can discuss how to best test Mai's abilities.”

Luella's eyes sparkled at the proposition.  Oliver gave Mai a meaningful look. It took Mai a while of analyzing to realize he was splitting up her interactions in order to lessen her anxieties. 

_ Thank you, Naru. _

…….

Luella, as it turned out, was an avid shopper. While everything had to be practical, there was no limit on quantity or quality. Mai learned this when Luella handed her the eighth pair of shoes she wanted Mai to try on. Mai had never had the opportunity to go shopping for the sheer joy of it. Once in a blue moon she was able to splurge a little on two new tops or a skirt, but even that required a good sale and a lot of bargaining. Window shopping was a waste of time because it lead to daydreams of what could be; ultimately reminding her of her terribly  _ abnormal  _ past.

Occasionally Ayako would buy Mai an accessory or two, but never had the opportunity arose for them to go out together. After high school Mai threw herself more heartedly into SPR, rising from the ranks of Oliver’s glorified secretary to a full-time investigator  _ who just so happened  _ to participate in secretarial business, every now and then (whenever she felt extra generous). Ayako had busied herself by forcing her (fairly large) foot into the dating scene. Her (grumbled) explanation for Mai ran something along the lines of: “I won’t be able to go on if you end up marrying Naru before I get a single decent boyfriend”. The complaint turned Mai into a flushed mess. 

The experience of trying things on with someone else, Mai realized, killed any sorrowful aftertaste of "just looking". Not that Luella would, or could _ ,  _ allow such melancholy to befall a guest. Especially not one her son deemed worthy enough of a visit. It helped that Luella was generous by nature, and Mai was never one to back down from a treat, of course. So it was with contagious bubbliness, that the two young women carried in two armfuls of outlet shopping bags, back to the Davis' home in the evening. Martin and Oliver both were dutifully working in the former's office. 

When the ladies entered Martin greeted them with stretched out arms.

"Ah, there you two are! I was worried you had bought us out of home and country," he said lightly. 

He embraced his wife and kissed her cheek.

Luella elegantly bounced around to Mai, "I'm afraid Mai wouldn't allow me. So this will have to do," she teased back.

Oliver stood up out of the peppermint striped armchair he was in, and strolled over to Mai. He took one of her bags and peeked inside.

"You did not allow Luella to push you around too much, I hope," he murmured. 

Mai laughed.

Luella put an arm around Mai's shoulder, "You cannot force the willing, Noll. Are you jealous that we were out having fun while you two wasted away inside?"

"Hardly," was his response.

This made Mai laugh again and Oliver allowed a small, sardonic smile.

Martin cleared his throat to spare Mai and Oliver from Luella's (lighthearted) lecture. 

"I'm glad you women had fun. We managed to get a load done, ourselves. Now all we need is Mai's input on where to proceed with her examinations."

“That last word is a bit scary,” Mai said, only half in jest.

Luella shot Martin a gentle reprimanding look. 

"Work can wait until _after_ dinner. As for our ladies’ night, I'm afraid I only purchased some housing items for myself; The library has been in need of new curtains for a while now… and a replacement spatula was due after  _ the incident _ \--" 

“Lu, in all fairness, that spatula was older than our marriage,” Martin interrupted. 

Mai’s curiosity overcame her last bit of apprehension and lavish politeness. 

“ _What did you do_ Martin?”

With his blunder now the center of attention, Martin scratched his lowered head. Luella left quietly to begin dinner, her sleight-of-hand falling noticed only by Oliver. While Martin explained to Mai the glaring faults of a  plastic-headed spatula  (“the thing had to be well-over 20 years old,” he insisted), Oliver followed his mother’s path to the kitchen.

"What was the point of that?" He asked, leaning on the room's door frame. 

Luella was already busying herself with chopping up garlic. 

"I'm just taking advantage of her excitement," she shrugged. 

"Once she came out of her shell, her English improved. She just needs a little coaxing."

Oliver smirked. 

"Now it will take a miracle to make her quiet."

" _ Oliver,  _ really! You must like her a great deal for you to bring her over here. _ ” _

His lack of protest shocked his mother, but she didn't let it show. A beat passed.

“What do you think of her?” 

His voice was at a significantly lower volume than their conversation originally was (one could describe it as soft). 

Luella laughed, “She’s certainly grown on me!”

Oliver turned his head to see Mai and Martin, still conversing, attempting to make their way to the kitchen. Martin had his hand on Mai's vibrating shoulder and was gently patting it, his eyes scrunched up from his smile, all the while Mai was almost doubling over in laughter. Mai was always noisy, but her laughter was impossible to miss. It was clear from her erratic breathing and giggling that not many comprehensible words were making it past her lips. Oliver's body shifted minutely when Mai's eyes met his. 

Oliver sighed lightly, “She tends to do that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hyper-fixation is a bitch of a mistress, and I am her very eager slave. Ah~, "Frailty thy name is passion!"   
> (Read: Crazy Internet people were getting me down, finally embraced nihilism, played through FNV's Dead Money DLC, remembered I like writing and anime).


	5. Hint 5: The Thrilling Conclusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AKA Oliver and Mai may both be supernaturally talented, but they're useless at everything else; Mai learns to bake a cake, Luella wants to be meddlesome, Oliver starts buckling under pressure, and Martin chokes on his own saliva. Come one, come all, the epic adventure comes to an end.

Mai was not a chef. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Well, if instant ramen and miso soup fresh out of a cardboard box counted (and according to Ayako,  _ they didn’t _ ), then one could consider Mai a food connoisseur _. _ Despite the fact that Oliver’s entire cooking repertoire was on the same sad level as Mai’s (the pair’s shared knowledge could barely fill a teaspoon), he wasted no time lecturing her on how her diet was hardly suitable for “someone like her”. 

“Someone like me, huh?!” She growled.

Oliver pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

“An adolescent, Mai. One still developing into adulthood. One whose biology requires more sustenance and rest due to a rapid increase in growth,” Oliver over-enunciated each word as if scolding a frenzied toddler.

“Oh, yeah? What about you, Mr. room-service-and-takeout-menus?” Mai put her hands on her hips and pouted. 

Oliver, totally unbothered, sipped his tea and asked, “How is the Matsuyama case report going?” 

So, he had won that round. It was only after several days of muttering about “Nosy-Naru”, Mai realized his reprimand was his way of expressing concern about her welfare. Which only annoyed her. To the point that she loudly confronted him about his hypocrisy in front of the SPR Irregulars. Oliver reluctantly agreed that the two could work on eating (actual) meals together. Mai suspected it was only because she dented his pride in front of their colleagues, but she wasn’t going to overthink Oliver willingly opting to care for himself. 

Just because Mai and Oliver honestly attempted to learn more about basic cooking, didn’t mean they were successful. The crime-scenes alternated between Mai’s flat and Oliver’s. The two quickly found out that Oliver had the almost-psychic ability to burn water, while Mai’s impatience may (or may not) have caused a case of salmonella. Even if they managed to finish making a dish without a concerned neighbor giving them a “friendly check-in”, the result would be so unappetizing that the two would end up going out to eat anyway. Thus, began their bi-weekly dinner dates. Which slowly began including lunch breaks at work. It was during such a ‘lunch date’ (to-go food eaten at Mai’s), that Oliver proposed the unthinkable: 

“At this rate, we should just move in together.”

Sitting across from him, Mai paused with her chop-sticks half-way to her mouth. Her eyes bulged and her jaw hit the floor. Oliver leaned over her kotatsu and gently closed Mai’s mouth for her.

“You can not complain about being called a monkey when you make faces like that,” he scolded.

“H-h-how could you suggest that so casually?!” Mai gasped.

Her chopsticks were almost thrown down, and her appetite vanished. Oliver tilted his head to initiate his innocent act.

“Your face looked ridiculous,” he said.

Mai hid her burning face in her hands, “Gah~! You know what I meant!” 

Oliver gave the slightest laugh at Mai’s expense. He grabbed one of Mai's hands and turned his attention to his food.

“You have managed to take away so much valuable time from me through these escapades, that my research could not possibly suffer more.”

Mai squeezed Oliver’s hand. “Oh~, so this is all about benefiting  _ you,  _ is it?”

He smirked, “Naturally.” 

“Well… who’s to say I won’t be  _ more  _ of a distraction living with you? Are you willing to risk that?” Mai asked.

Oliver’s smirk softened into a smile. One that made Mai's pulse halt.

“I am,” he answered.

* * *

It was ironic, Mai thought, that what moved her and Oliver’s relationship forward was their inability to eat and cook like adults; now she was helping his parents prepare one of the fanciest meals she had ever seen. Oliver was sitting in the family room, “reading”. In actuality, he had been staring at the same page for a good while. It didn’t take the ever eagle-eyed Luella long to notice. 

“Noll, why don’t you come in and join us?” She called out.

Oliver chose then to return to his reading facade. 

“Naru! If you do not help, you will not eat!” Mai yelled.

Oliver responded by turning a page. 

Luella sighed good-naturedly and turned away to scold Martin for putting food in the oven before it was properly pre-set. Mai pouted and stopped stirring her cake batter. Even though she had to swing open the loud kitchen doors to march towards him, Oliver didn’t seem to notice her. That was, until a goo suddenly dripped onto his nose.

Oliver swiped a finger across the goo and after quick examination, determined it was cake batter. He glared up at the giggling woman he thought he had loved. Wasting no time, Oliver set his book down and shot upwards. He gently but firmly brought Mai’s face to his own and kissed her. The kiss was broken up by Mai’s uncontrollable laughter from the fresh smear of gritty, vanilla batter on her cheek. Oliver’s lips quirked up, then returned to normal as he saw Martin approach them.

Martin noted their close proximity.

“You two should wash your faces before dinner, lest you face Luella’s wrath,” he said.

Oliver nodded and took Mai’s arm, guiding her to the closest powder room. 

“ _ Will your mom be mad at us?”  _ Mai whispered, lightly scrubbing her left cheek.

“ _ He was joking,”  _ Oliver murmured, “ _ Besides, you were the one who started it.” _

_ “Only because you refused to help!”  _ Mai exclaimed. 

Not wanting to waste more energy than he already had with what he deemed to be a stupid conversation, he quickly kissed Mai’s cleaned cheek, and walked out of the bathroom.

“ _ Someone’s very affectionate today…”  _ Mai grumbled from beside Oliver.

He hesitated, then relented with, “ _ I...have been thinking…. _ ”

“... _ About what? _ ” Mai asked a bit apprehensively. 

“Ah! There you two are. I didn’t want to start without you,” Luella said, ushering the couple into the dining room. 

And Mai was left without an answer. 

It was Mai's sixth dinner with the Davises, but Luella could have been tricked into thinking Mai had always been there. Sure, for the first few hours Mai was twitchy, her English stuttered rather than spoken; but with her comfort came confidence. Her warm atmosphere brought with it an unexpected, but nostalgic, glow; one the Davis household had unconsciously ached for. Not to mention how gifted the young lady was!

Martin would return from his office, his hands shaking with excitement, speaking in tongues about Mai's psychic abilities:

"...And during astral projection she was able to give a  _ worldly object _ to a conscious person! She transferred  _ raw matter _ , Luella!"

Luella would laugh at his enthusiasm, while being equally excited herself. On the night after the Davises took their reluctant son and an awestruck Mai sightseeing, Martin and Luella were getting ready for bed. Luella was brushing her hair with deep concentration etched on her face. Martin sighed and put down his book. 

"What is it Luella?" He asked. 

"Hm?" Luella snapped out of her thoughts.

Martin chuckled knowingly. 

"You had  _ the look _ on your face. Nothing good can come from that," he teased. 

Luella smiled gently, "I was just wondering."

"Hm, you know how dangerous that is," Martin said.

"So is reading in dimmed lights, Martin.”

Martin acknowledged her with a smile. He grabbed her shoulder and squeezed it lightly.

"What is it that's bothering you, dear?" He asked. 

Luella sighed, "Noll is lying to us."

"He better not be! Otherwise we did a lousy job raising him."

"Well… not lying per say. He is just not being upfront with us."

"Ah, that sounds more like him," Martin nodded sagely, "But what brought this up?"

"I saw Noll hold Mai's hand today."

"Lu," he sighed, massaging his temples. 

"I know, I know. We've discussed this…"

"Look," Martin spoke gently, "If Noll is interested in Mai, he will tell us when he's ready. The fact that Mai happens to be a nice young woman has you fantasizing wildly."

Luella sighed again.

"I just can't… there is this feeling that keeps pestering me," She said. "Though, perhaps you're right… I only want him to find love. Goodness knows he could use it."

Luella finally got herself under the bed covers next to her husband.

Martin shrugged. 

"There is no need to apologize. We both want what's best for him. If I hadn't known you for so long, trust me, I would assume your reveries were harmless. Thankfully, I know you better," he kissed Luella's cheek, "I don't want you to set yourself up for disappointment."

"Thank you," Luella giggled, "You know me too well."

Martin smiled wryly, "I hope so. However, I never will understand why you have always been so eager to be a mother-in-law or a grandmother. The second Gene showed an interest in dating you were ecstatic."

"You could say I want to achieve as much as possible, as soon as possible. Can you blame me? Our boys are so extraordinary, I simply want to catch up!"

* * *

Mai yawned, again.

Luella could no longer take it, "Mai, luv, why don't you head off to bed? Don't feel obligated to chat with us."

Mai smiled gratefully. "I am sorry. I do not mean to be rude."

"Nonsense! Being tired is a natural state, don't apologize."

Oliver smirked. "Being rude has never stopped you before," he said.

Mai snorted.  _ "Says the guy who has never heard of 'thank you'," _ she murmured.

Luella chuckled and motioned for Mai to leave, "Have a good night's rest, Mai."

Mai stood and bowed, "Thank you for the food!" 

"Thank you for helping," Martin said. He sent a meaningful glance towards Oliver, resulting in everyone but the former laughing. 

Mai left for the stairs, then turned around as if she forgot something. She ran to Oliver's side and squeezed him tightly. She then walked to Martin and Luella and embraced them, too.

She called out, "Good night, everyone!", and ran her way back to her room, as if distancing herself from the Davises would make her embarrassment dilute (it didn't). 

Before either of his parents could react, Oliver broke the silence.

"After we are done here I have to talk to you two."

Martin recognized the question in the statement.

"Of course, Noll. What is it?" He asked gently.

"It will take a while. We should clean up first," Oliver said, standing up and gathering dishes.

Martin stood also, and began helping his son.

"We have this under control, Lu. How about you wait for us in the living room?" 

Luella readily agreed. Although patience was not her strong suit, she felt the heaviness of Oliver's inquiry without him having spoken it. Her knowledge on exactly the kind of trouble that Oliver would need their help in worried her. She could forsee herself needing a seat. Or a drink. Or both. Ibuprofen, perhaps. 

The father and son walked into the living room. 

Martin initiated the subject knowing that Noll wouldn't (not twice in one night, anyhow). 

"So, what is it that you need to tell us?" 

Luella thought Martin was being far too broad with his question.  Oliver stood straight. 

He curtly walked towards a window and without turning to face his parents asked, "...What do you think of Mai?"

Luella had already been asked, so she figured the question was directed at her husband.She motioned for Martin to speak.

"Her abilities are, well ...unprecedented. Astral projection in of itself is fascinating. But phasing solid objects through to another solid body, all the while Mai isn't corporeal? It's incredible! Not to mention her near-empath abilities regarding dreams and intuition‐-"

"‐-That's not what you want to hear, is it Noll?" Luella asked pointedly. "You already know all this."

Oliver's mouth twitched slightly. The jig was up.

"Obviously," he said.  Though he didn't specify which he was agreeing to. 

"Mai is a very warm young lady. I think she doesn't realize how much she brings out in others… but why? You clearly already have made up your mind on her. You wouldn't have brought someone here if you didn't think of them highly."

Both Oliver and Luella made a habit of not repeating themselves, yet they in this conversation they both did. Meanwhile, Martin's mouth was wide open: he was torn between scolding his wife for backtracking on their late-night discussion, and vocalizing his agreement with her. 

"Mai and I have been seeing each other for a year and 3 months," Oliver said wryly.

"I  _ knew  _ it!" Luella laughed. 

While Martin's mouth was still uselessly agape, Luella stood and walked towards Oliver to hug him. Of which, he accepted with one arm.

Martin's mouth decided to work again.

"I would be a liar to say I didn't have my suspicions…" he smiled at his son, "Although, hearing it from you makes me even happier."

Luella released Oliver and turned to her husband. 

She sighed melodramatically, "To think you said I was growing delusional!"

"N-now that's not what I meant in the slightest. I just know how you get yourself too excited about things that--" Martin spluttered. 

Oliver cleared his throat, effectively gaining the attention of his parents. 

"That was not what I wanted to discuss with you two," he said.

Martin thought he must be suffering from heart palpitations. His mind immediately jumped to one word.

"She's not  _ pregnant, _ is she?" Luella gasped.

Martin choked. 

" _ Luella _ ." 

Oliver pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"No, that's not it."

_ Then what? _ Martin and Luella's faces asked.

"...I think Mai is interested in getting married."

Luella began crying happily and Martin nearly fainted.

He asked her in their new apartment, she was making tea. Oliver got his answer in the form of a dropped kettle, a broken foot, and incomprehensible stutters. Though took a few days for Mai’s face to turn back to a normal shade, the engagement ring felt as if it had always been there. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAND THAT’S A WRAP!   
> ~.*~*.~.*~*.~  
> FUN FACT reposting this was only supposed to take 5 weeks. But then the world decided it was going to implode (aHA).  
> ANYWAYS, I said it before and I'll say it again: I seriously can’t thank y’all for the amount of support I got on this... this thing. It’s like cotton candy, really. The fluff will rot your teeth away, and it’s full of empty calories to hold you over until the gods take pity on us and give us another anime season. Or Hell, a reboot. That’d be the day. 
> 
> Until next time (which will be sooner than you think, probably).


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